Feel Great in Eight!!

We still have eight weeks left in this competition and we are more hopeful than ever! By golly, I think Big 'D' is getting it!! He has lost another six pounds and at the beginning of last week, left the 300's behind!! Again, no, he probably won't be winning first place, but we all know as I've stated many many many times before that this isn't about winning the prize money. Yes, it's an AWESOME ball to keep our eyes on and the bait that keeps us diving, but what we are really winning at, is life, and it feels great! Now, to really win the competition, we could have gone with something drastic and it would have worked, but Darrin doesn't want to pound all the weight back on. I was mistaken, thinking that this could be won so easily with real life eating and heavy exercising while enrolled in an RN program. Sadly, that isn't the way to drop tons of weight fast and to win the grand prize money. But Darrin is losing a steady amount that he'll be able to keep off! It took me a while to come to terms, that this is going to be a long process, but I'm okay with it now, and we are on the same page. He does however, wants me to strongly emphasize that he still has a shot at some significant prize money, but we'll see, right now, I'm just happy with the direction he is going!

Darrin has been focusing mainly on portion control these last few weeks as school has been demanding so much time and physical energy, and he's been doing amazing! He hasn't been eliminating much, except for added sugars such as drinks, desserts and bad carbs like doughnuts etc..., those items are reserved for his cheat day, and even then, he is portion controlling very wisely. On Friday night, the girls really wanted Oreo's and milk, which is a HUGE temptation for both me and Darrin. We did very well and only ate three! We all know how easy it is to pound a whole sleeve of Oreo's in 5.2, so this is a victory, haha! I really do believe that portion controlling is the answer for our family and lifestyle. It has worked for me and it is working for Darrin too, and it puts a smile on my face as I watch him push his plate away as he recognizes that he is full. Something I have to do some times when I'm full, but still want to eat the yumminess left on my plate......I run over to the sink, throw my plate in and poor water over it immediately. Yep, as silly as that sounds, that's what I do and hey, it works for me!

Aside from portion controlling, our family as you all know has also been adding different veggies and fruits. These last two weeks I've been focusing our efforts on our salad eating. In the first 8-ish weeks we really did great and my girls discovered that salad wasn't the enemy, and they have been eating them at least three times a week. In the last four weeks we lost our zest in the whole salad eating goal. We still did it, but I've been getting opposition again! No! We can't digress, this is about progress! So, in these next eight weeks I want them to really start ENJOYING the salad. So I'm going to find a way to make it more fun and dress the salad up with other healthy things they will enjoy. Tonight I will be researching how to do this, haha!!

Exercise for big 'D' has been in and out the last two weeks, but with school getting done in JUST ONE MORE WEEK, I'm confident that he will be able to bust it out at cross-fit and the 'Y' more than regularly for the next 8 weeks. It's been amazing watching his weight come off as he is finally finding his "mojo" in the diet department. Every part of becoming healthy is such a mental battle, and we are now so hopeful, that Darrin will win this battle. The war will continue on for the rest of our lives, but as far as this battle goes, I think he's got it!

Our community involvement with initiating an employee health challenge at Family Healthy Services, has been such a roller coaster ride for me. We started with A LOT of excitement from over 65 employee participants, and now, seven weeks later we are down to a mere 25. I had a meeting with the 'Y' so we could start a corporate membership plan, and to pick their brains to keep the momentum going for our remaining employees. Gilly Funk and Modesta (the 'Y' directors) were soooooo uplifting and wonderful. They gave me some great ideas and told me that having a remaining 25 is GREAT! I think I tend to set my expectations too high and then I get disappointed, but these two wonderful ladies made me feel awesome and rejuvinated my spirits, which in turn helps me help my employee challengers! They even have me contemplating getting some certification done to become an instructor/trainer at the gym.....hmmmm, not sure though! We have a lot going on right now, but it's something to think about. However I'm flattered that they deemed me worthy of such, and it gives me the motivation to stay strong. Last Thursday after work I did do a little personal training though! Five of my employee challengers met me at the gym with one small session at 7:00 and then again at 8:00 so I could show them some HIIT workouts! I had soooooo much fun! Even my boss came which I thought was going to be intimidating, but it turned out to be so rewarding and I loved every minute of it! They all did so great and exceeded the expectations I had for them. Way to go ladies!! The YMCA has also decided to put together something for our grand prize package in the next five weeks as well, I'm so pumped!

Our family activities for the last couple were so fun as usual! We are loving the bonding time that this has created and our girls are discovering that being active as a family is so rewarding! We played Volley-tennis and went to the YMCA's "healthy kids day". We originally went as volunteers, but when we got there we saw that they had more than enough help, so we decided to just participate. It was sooo much fun! They had a bunch of stations that had different physical activities the kids could enjoy such as an obstacle course, a basketball competition, freeze dance game, a baby/army crawl race, kid friendly yoga and some healthy foods as well. There was so much more, but that would take all day! As we left, they had a fire truck in the parking lot that of course the kids had to check out!

Tommye-Lynn is at the exact age where I fell in love with volley ball through Volley-Tennis! It was an after-school sports program that my sisters, my my mom and I were all actively involved in. We played this sport, basketball and softball. I wish they still did these sports as an after school program!! My mom was a volunteer coach for us and we loved it! We always won the championship in the volley-tennis season and we loved our t-shirts and trophies that told us so!

Such good memories, and I love re-living them with my own little fourth-grader!! It was fun as we were even able to get a few vollies going between each other.

Once again, watching Brylee was such a crack up. She put so much effort into such a small hit! Her cuteness overwhelms me as she tries so hard! She enjoyed every minute of it.

                  

 Big daddy 'D'was patient as usual with his little ones. If he could have it his way, he'd lay the smack down as much as possible. I have to kindly remind him that these are little girls we are playing with. :) I know he can't wait till he can play some real games with them when they are older. Me too!



And last but not least, the girls are loving watching the garden grow! We had a "freeze" on one night that we weren't prepared for, but everything but our Roma tomatoes made it through and are thriving. We will re-plant those this week and also be planting some peppers! Such a fun experiment and is teaching the girls a little responsibility as well.

      

I try to think of  or apply a new motto weekly, and this week is to "feel great in eight!" So here we go number eight, we got this!